Return-Path: Received: from N1.SP.CS.CMU.EDU by ux3.sp.cs.cmu.edu id aa17875; 3 Oct 2000 7:52 EDT Received: from BLOODHOUND.CARNEGIETECH.ORG by n1.sp.cs.cmu.edu id aa08889; 3 Oct 2000 7:52 EDT Message-Id: <4.2.0.58.20001003075149.00bb7d70@n1.sp.cs.cmu.edu> X-Sender: alf@n1.sp.cs.cmu.edu X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 4.2.0.58 Date: Tue, 03 Oct 2000 07:52:13 -0400 To: dst@n1.sp.cs.cmu.edu From: Allan Fisher Subject: Fwd: Learning IT right from wrong Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed X-UIDL: 64849fea9fa83af9039fde798392550e Status: U > >http://www.infoworld.com/articles/ca/xml/00/10/02/001002caethics.xml >Friday, Sep. 29, 2000 1:01 pm PT > >Learning IT right from wrong >By Linda Pliagas > >A SYSTEMS ANALYST becomes aware of illegal activity -- fraud, money >laundering, evasion of taxes -- at his company. After a late night of >work, the analyst breaks the network's security code and examines >confidential files. A few days later, an envelope containing several >thousand dollars appears on his desk. > > > >Elsewhere a software developer spends months working on a new program. She >devises a scheme to take vengeance upon those who illicitly copy her code. >Her program's protection feature allows only one back-up copy. Attempts to >make additional copies corrupt the source disks and wipe clean any >accessible hard disks or floppies. > > > >Scary? Computer science students are tackling these and other moral >dilemmas in computer ethics courses on college campuses this fall. The >problems cited above are from Computer Ethics: Cautionary Tales and >Ethical Dilemmas in Computing by Tom Forester and Perry Morrison, >published by Massachusetts Institute of Technology. > > > >Universities have heard the ethics call. To earn the Computer Science >Accreditation Board seal of approval, a university's computer science >curriculum must include "sufficient coverage of social and ethical >implications of computing" -- a significant evolution since the first >computer science curriculum taught in 1968. > > > >Ethics go to work > > > >Cynthia Esty took a computer ethics course in the late 1980s to fulfill >the criteria for her degree in business administration. Esty, now director >of strategic alliances at digitalESP, an e-business solutions provider, in >Raleigh, N.C., had no idea how the principles of technological integrity >would dictate her career. > > > >Esty decides with which companies digitalESP will partner. Part of this >process includes examining the morals and values found in the potential >partner's organization. "We incorporate [ethics] in everything we do. It's >woven into our corporate environment. We don't want to work with people we >don't trust." If Esty feels a company's principles are not up to par, the >business is downgraded to vendor. > > > >On the other hand, Michael Cohen admits he has yet to face an ethical >dilemma as a software architect at Roanoke Technology, an online >procurement software leasing company, in Roanoke Rapids, N.C. This May, >Cohen earned two bachelor's degrees: one in computer science, the other in >mathematical sciences. > > > >As part of his studies at Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore, Cohen >took a four-week computer ethics course. At the first class meeting, Cohen >and the other students were building a philosophical framework from which >to analyze issues of piracy, hacking, Internet privacy, and encryption >regulations. > > > >Despite addressing such high-profile problems, Cohen has yet to see how >school and work intertwine on the ethics front. "I have only been working >for a short time so I wouldn't say that the ethics coursework has come >much into play in my professional life," he said. > > > >Cohen's boss has a different take. The new breed of ethically enriched >techies has left a mark at the office, CEO David L. Smith says. > > > >After realizing the company needed to monitor e-mail habits, Smith says >his first inclination was to simply read the e-mail of employees he >suspected were goofing off on company time. But instead of stepping into a >privacy and ethics quagmire, "two of our programmers put their heads >together and came up with a way that made that unnecessary," Smith says. > > > >The morally driven solution led to the company installing a system to warn >management when an employee sends or receives a certain amount of e-mail >to or from the same address. This gives the manager, Smith says, an >opportunity to counsel the employee without having to read the e-mail. > > > >Many business owners, computer and software experts, and academics agree >that having high ethical standards is important for future IT >professionals to possess. "Today's students have incredibly powerful tools >at their disposal -- unprecedented technological advances empowering them >to change our society, for better or worse. It is absolutely essential >that they be schooled in the fundamentals of ethics to ensure their skills >are applied appropriately," says Mark Bunting, host and executive producer >of the nationally syndicated television series "The Computer Guy" and >founder of Sky Television, a producer of technology-related television and >in-flight programming. > > > >Right and wrong, just in time > > > >So just when did morality become entwined with the computer profession? C. >Dianne Martin, Ph.D., a former computer ethics professor, recalls 1991 as >the year professionals and others began to discuss the implications of not >educating IT professionals about ethical and social responsibilities. > > > >In the nine years since, the IT industry has changed dramatically and >trust has become a real IT issue -- and an industry within the industry. >Martin works in the new "trust" field. She defines corporate policies and >practices for GeoTrust, a Portland, Ore.-based company that provides >buyers and sellers with access to an e-commerce participant's trust profile. > > > >Martin is not alone in charging the industry with ethical >responsibilities. Major players have entered into the discussion. Martin >says a new computer science curriculum will be drawn up next year by the >Association for Computing Machinery and the Institute of Electrical and >Electronics Engineers. > > > >George Mason University, in Fairfax, Va., isn't waiting for a new >curriculum directive. The school requires all computer science students to >take a computer ethics course. > > > >Tamara Maddox, GMU computer ethics professor, says it's imperative for >students to be aware of technical virtues. Undoubtedly, they will someday >be faced with dilemmas that may redefine Information Age values. "They >will not be aware of how to handle these issues if they have never thought >of them before," she says. > > > >Maddox, a lawyer and former software developer, wants her students to be >prepared. Her Computer Ethics 105 students must participate in group >discussions and projects and write research papers. Topics range from >piracy to negligence in software testing, and Internet freedom of speech >vs. pornography, which she describes as "an age-old issue with a new face." > > > >Development of low quality software is a real ethical problem for the IT >industry, says Don Gotterbarn, Ph.D., professor of computer and >information science at East Tennessee State University, in Johnson City, >Tenn. "When you let the schedule change the quality of software you >develop, that is an ethical issue," he says. For example, says Gotterbarn, >two years ago a computer expert did not program an incubator thermostat >properly. The inaccuracy reportedly resulted in the death of two infants. > > > >Although such a high profile example is emotionally charged, GeoTrust's >Martin says you do not have to reach that far to find other examples of >how ethics have played out in the industry. Think back to January of this year. > > > >The Y2K bug is a classic lesson of the lack of social and ethical >awareness among the computing industry professionals, Martin says. Years >ago, says the former computer ethics professor, developers thought little >about future implications of their work: Would airplanes be able to fly? >What would the financial ramifications be? This lack of foresight brought >problems of global significance. > > > >Martin's academic colleague, Gotterbarn, sees another important event in >the ethical history of the IT industry -- powerful and fast computers in >the hands of nonprofessionals. This, Gotterbarn says, has made an enormous >impact on how the discipline of computer science is now being taught. "We >used to teach computing in only technical terms -- devoid of humanity. But >they [students] did not get an immediate sense that their computing >affects people. Every decision a computer professional makes impacts other >people, either colleagues or laymen," Gotterbarn says. > > > >Classroom antics > > > >Gotterbarn remembers that when computer ethics courses first hit campuses, >stock fraud made up the majority of the classes' "wow stories." Now >technological developments in computing have impacted where computing >power can be applied, and this has led to an enormous change in the way >ethics is discussed in classes, he adds. > > > >Just a few years ago, professors would cover a single, neat issue every >week -- equity, hacking, and security. Today deeper levels are uncovered. >"Now we go into a little bit of philosophy for the nonphilosopher," >GeoTrust's Martin explains. > > > >Often "values clarification" is first on the class agenda. Students must >realize, Gotterbarn says, that they arrive in class holding their own >standards and ethics. Then with the ethics lightbulb on, the computer >professionals' code of ethics is introduced. Once students have grasped a >framework, social scenarios are given. Then they can begin to uncover if >something is "not quite right." > > > >Preventing problems should be the focal point in computer ethics courses, >Roanoke Technology's Smith says. With his e-mail dilemma, he realized that >most managers do not want to monitor personal communications from work. >But if productivity falls, they have a responsibility to find out why. He >calls this work problem a "two-edged sword." > > > >Ethics instruction in computer science departments will undoubtedly >continue. Martin hopes professors will teach the course in a more >integrative and robust way than in recent history. "Ethics should be >taught in many classes instead of being solely focused as a separate >course," Martin says. Experts agree that by having standards of conduct >ingrained into the computer science students' minds, the wish of every >professor, employer, and manager will come true. Errors will be >self-caught before they develop into moral catastrophes. > > > >Will an education in ethics bring an end to the computer industry's >dilemmas? No, Sky Television's Bunting says. "There will always be an >element of our society who crosses the line and disregards such boundaries." > > > >Linda Pliagas is a free-lance writer in Los Angeles. Contact her at >npliagas@aol.com. > >#top>Back >to top >Email >the editor > > >/opinions/morecareercurrents.html>Career Currents > >Margaret Steen answers readers' career questions > > >/opinions/moreissurvivalguide.html>IS Survival Guide > >Bob Lewis gives management advice from the trenches > > >/careers/index.html>Career guides > >Find the resources you need for a successful IT career > >a_job1.txt&file2=career_2.findingajob.search.html&file3=find_a_job2.txt&fil >e4=career_2.findingajob.whentolook.html&file5=find_a_job3.txt&file6=career_ >2.findingajo>Finding a job > >edu1.txt&file2=career_2.conteducation.overview.html&file3=cont_edu2.txt&fil >e4=career_2.conteducation.certification.html&file5=cont_edu3.txt&file6=care >er_2.contedu>Continuing education > >lan1.txt&file2=career_2.businessplanning.issue.html&file3=bus_plan2.txt&fil >e4=career_2.businessplanning.efficiency.html&file5=bus_plan3.txt&file6=care >er_2.busines>Business planning > >N >o ruling in Napster case > >Mic >rosoft seeks plenty of time in appeal > >Micr >osoft invests $135 million in Corel > >Ora >cle unveils 9i database > >Digit >al signatures take effect in United States > > >Go to home page > > >Subscribe to our free email >newsletters > > > >Subscribe to InfoWorld print > > > > > > > >HOME | >NEWS | >TEST CENTER | >OPINIONS | >FORUMS | >CAREERS | >STOCK QUOTE >SUBJECT >INDEXES | SUBSCRIBE | >ABOUT US | >SEARCH > > > >Copyright 2000 InfoWorld >Media Group, Inc. >InfoWorld.com is a member of IDG.net > > > >InfoWorld.com complies with the >ASME guidelines with IDG >extensions For New media. > > > >